Waas said he fully supports the decision by referee Dennis Buchman to eject Callahan from the gym at Liberty High School during the District 11 Class AAA wrestling championships.

Callahan was asked to leave after heavily and loudly criticizing calls by mat officials during the 220-pound championship match between Freedom High School senior Evan Kauffman and Liberty junior Jake Gunning -- a match won by Kauffman 5-4.

Callahan's son John is a Freedom wrestler who earlier had placed fourth in the 195-pound weight class.

Waas, who was in the gym but said he did not hear Callahan's specific comments, said Buchman, who does not reside locally, had no idea that Callahan was mayor of Bethlehem.

"Remember to Dennis, this is just a fan or a parent acting inappropriately, not the mayor of Bethlehem," said Waas, a District 11 referee for more than 25 years before stepping down from active officiating several years ago. "Every (official) has a different tolerance for what they'll take, and it's up to the official. When (Callahan) was yelling and screaming, Dennis had a right to do it. He was ejecting a fan who was acting inappropriately, not ejecting the mayor."

Waas said he spoke to Buchman afterward and was completely satisfied that the ejection was appropriate. The gym was at capacity earlier in the evening and about 1,000 or so people remained at the time.

"Dennis was right on top of it," Waas said. "He is one of the best officials we have."

There are no hard-and-fast rules for fans being ejected from wrestling matches for nonviolent behavior. It's not unprecedented for a wrestling fan to be asked to leave. Obscene language will almost always not be tolerated, but Callahan's language, though strong and loudly delivered, was neither.

"One good thing about John Callahan," Waas said. "Everybody likes basketball, everybody likes football, but only wrestling people like wrestling. I am glad to see the mayor of Bethlehem likes wrestling. But he acted inappropriately as a fan."

Callahan on Saturday night said he was asked to leave after disagreeing with a stalling call the referee delivered against a Freedom wrestler.

On his way out of the gym, Callahan, a second-term mayor who is running for Northampton County executive, mentioned "rabbit ears" and wiggled his fingers on the side of his head.

He reiterated that in a message sent from his Twitter account late Saturday.

"Certainly did not mean to offend tonight," wrote Callahan, who was a wrestler for Liberty High School. "Pretty sad when a wrestling fan can't express displeasure about a call. Talk about rabbit ears."

"Rabbit ears" is a term that refers to someone on the field or court who's distracted by what people are saying from the stands.